Britain Boots Israeli Diplomat Over Fake Passport Scandal

Posted on Mar 23, 2010

An Israeli diplomat is packing his bags and leaving the United Kingdom in the wake of the forged-passport scandal that allowed a group of assassins to carry out their hit on a top Hamas official in Dubai two months ago. —KA

The diplomat has been reported to be Israel’s top Mossad officer in the country.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the expelled diplomat as Ambassador Ron Prosor. His job is safe, though he was “disappointed” by the news.

BBC:

Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the Commons there were “compelling reasons” to believe Israel was responsible for the passport “misuse”.

[...] It is believed 12 fake British passports were used in the plot to murder Mr Mabhouh - the founder of Hamas’s military wing - in his hotel room in Dubai on 19 January.

The names and details on the UK passports used by eight of the 12 suspects belonged to British-Israeli citizens living in Israel - all of whom have denied involvement in Mr Mabhouh’s murder.